Sharks road trip ends on a sour note in Denver

By Paul Gackle, Bay Area News Group

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

DENVER — Different team, same result.

With Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen sidelined by injuries, the Sharks (28-17-8) faced a Colorado Avalanche squad in Denver Tuesday featuring significantly less firepower than the team that beat them on Jan. 18.

Regardless, the Avalanche (29-19-4) found a way to squeak out a 3-1 win in the rematch, capitalizing on a pair of defensive miscues by blue liner Brenden Dillon and frustrating the Sharks offense with another strong performance from goalie Jonathan Bernier.

“A little frustrating,” captain Joe Pavelski said. “It felt like we controlled the play, and then in two, three minutes, it was 2-0.

“We’ve got to find ways to score more than one, that’s the bottom line.”

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The loss cut the Sharks lead over the Anaheim Ducks and the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division to two points.

The Avalanche spoiled the Sharks near-perfect first period by scoring off a pair of turnovers in a span of 2:14 in the second.

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Gabriel Bourque opened the scoring at 2:31 by punching in a pass from J.T Compher on a two-on-one play. The Avalanche received an odd-man rush because Dillon fell as he was trying to clear the puck out of his own zone, allowing Tyson Jost to recover the puck at the blue line and feed it ahead to Compher.

“It’s my fault there. I’ve got to stay on my feet. It sucks. I probably (stay on my feet) 10 more times than I don’t in that situation,” Dillon said.

The Avalanche also victimized Dillon on their second goal at 4:45 of the middle frame.

Jost made it 2-0 on another Avalanche rush play by catching Dillon flatfooted at the blue line after he received a stretch pass from Nail Yakupov. The Avalanche forward beat Dillon in a race to the net and then fired the puck past goalie Martin Jones’ glove.

“The second one was just a neutral zone bang-bang play where they capitalized on their opportunity,” Dillon said.

The two-plus minute meltdown was particularly frustrating for the Sharks because they had completely dominated the opening period. The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 14-3 in the frame while holding them without a shot for the period’s final 15:20.

“The first period was the story,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “To come out of that period 0-0 and let them regroup, they realized that they were in this game and their goalie was playing.”

The Sharks coach said his team’s inability to solve Bernier for a second-consecutive game played a bigger role in the loss than Dillon’s miscues.

“We gave up two goals on the road, we should have a chance to win that game,” he said.

The Sharks are pleased that they won’t be seeing Bernier again until their final meeting with the Avalanche on April 5 at the earliest.

Bernier, who was named the NHL’s third star of the month in January after compiling a 2.10 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage in 11 appearances, stifled the Sharks in their first meeting, making 45 saves and stopping 19 of the last 20 shots he faced in the third period.

The backup goalie picked up where he left off in the rematch, making 38 saves on 39 shots.

“I think Bernier would be making $20 million a year if he played us every night,” DeBoer joked. “He’s been unbelievable against us.”

Bernier earned two points for the Avalanche in a game they didn’t deserve to be in as they struggled to generate sustained offense without their top two scorers, MacKinnon and Rantanen.

MacKinnon is out for two to four weeks with a shoulder injury while Rantanen is sidelined by a day-to-day lower-body injury. The last time the Sharks came to Denver, the Avalanche were the hottest team in the NHL, extending their winning streak to eight games with two goals and an assist from MacKinnon. The Avalanche went on to win 10-straight games, the longest winning streak in the NHL this season, before MacKinnon suffered his injury on Jan. 30.

The speedy forward is an early contender for the Hart Trophy, ranking third in scoring with 61 points in 49 games. The Avalanche clearly missed his presence Tuesday night.

The Sharks eventually cut the Avalanche’s lead to 2-1 at 13:29 of the second on Joel Ward’s first goal in 30 games.

After the Sharks fourth line controlled possession throughout their shift, Ward put the puck into the roof from the doorstep, recording his first goal since Nov. 22. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Barclay Goodrow recorded assists on the play.

Compher iced the game at 19:56 of the third, scoring into an empty net.

The loss ended the Sharks road trip on a sour note as they flew back to San Jose with a 2-2-1 record despite outshooting the Avalanche 39-20 Tuesday. The Sharks also lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 30 after putting up 42 shots.

DeBoer doesn’t think the Sharks .500 record on the trip reflects how the team is playing in Joe Thornton’s absence.

“We’re playing well,” DeBoer said. “To be honest with you, the two games we lost, Pittsburgh and tonight, were two of our better games. That’s a good sign, but there’s lots of heavy lifting to go and the schedule doesn’t get any easier for us.”